Dovetail Terms and Conditions

Version: 3

Last Modified: 23rd February 2022

  1. INTRODUCTION
    1. These Terms and Conditions, together with our Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy and Acceptable Use Policy (together the “Terms”) apply to your use of our Services (as defined in paragraph 3.4 below) whether as a guest or a registered user. The use of any Game appearing on our Website will also be governed by an End User Licence Agreement (“EULA”) for that Game. The EULA for the Games is available here. Please read these Terms carefully before you start to use our Services. By accessing and using our Services, you indicate that you accept these Terms and that you agree to abide by them. If you do not agree to these Terms, please refrain from using our Services. We sometimes update these Terms so please review them regularly. The Terms were last amended on the date indicated above at the top of the page.
  2. INFORMATION ABOUT US
    1. We are RailSimulator.com Limited (trading as Dovetail Games), a company registered in England and Wales under company number 6751125, and whose registered office is 3rd Floor, Fitted Rigging House, Anchor Wharf, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham ME4 4TZ. In these Terms, we will refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our " or "Dovetail".
  3. DEFINITIONS
    1. "Account" means your user account created by you in order to access our Services in accordance with paragraph 6.7 below.
    2. "Games" means any of the games featured on our Website or otherwise made available by us including all expansion packs, add-ons and all other downloadable content.
    3. "Intellectual Property Rights" means copyright and related rights, patents, rights to inventions, trademarks, trade names and domain names, rights in get-up, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights, and any other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world.
    4. "Services" means our Websites, our Games and any authorised software need to access the Games including all updates, additional content and localised versions thereof, and any other related products or services made available by us.
    5. "Stop" or "Stopping" in relation to an Account means temporarily or permanently suspending or banning an Account. If your Account is suspended or banned, you will not be able to access your Account and any licenses previously granted to you to use the Services will be either temporarily or permanently revoked.
    6. "Terms" has the meaning set out in paragraph 1.1.
    7. "User Content" means all information of any kind (including remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, text, images, video, information and messages) communicated, posted, uploaded, or sent by users on or in connection with the Services (including any user content created within our Games e.g. screenshots that are uploaded or shared within a Game, liveries or scenarios created by you in the Game and/or shared with other users, or any content uploaded to our Website). Our Services may include social elements which allows users to come into contact with and chat to other users. Messages exchanged between users, including those made on our public forums, are included within this definition of User Content.
    8. "Website" means:
      1. https://dovetailgames.com/
      2. https://live.dovetailgames.com/;
      3. https://forums.dovetailgames.com/;
      4. https://store.dovetailgames.com/;
      5. https://wearerailfans.com/,

or any other website owned, operated or controlled by us.

    1. "Website Content" has the meaning set out in paragraph 9.1.
  2. USERS UNDER 18
    1. A summary of these Terms, specifically written for young people, is available here.
    2. Our Services may contain content that is unsuitable for young people.  You should not access our Services or create an Account if you are under 16 years old. It is a violation of our Terms to register an Account on behalf of someone under 16.
    3. For users between 16 and 18 years of age, subject to any exceptions set out in these Terms and the laws of your country of residence, you must obtain your parents’/guardians’ prior consent, before you can use any of our Services.
    4. Where an applicable age rating body (e.g PEGI, ESRB) or platform (e.g Steam, PlayStation, Xbox) classifies a particular Game as suitable to be played only by users of a specified age above 16 years old, then in such circumstances, users below this classified age shall not be entitled to play, use or access the particular Game until they have reached the specified age classification.
    5. We do not knowingly collect or store any personally identifiable information from children under 16. If we find out that any personally identifiable information we have collected is from someone under 16, we will Stop the Account.
    6. If you are under 18, by using our Services, you confirm that you have consent from your parents/guardian to use the Services in accordance with our Terms. A summary of our Terms that is written specifically to help young people understand them, is available here.  We may Stop any Account if we are not satisfied that such consent has been given. You and your parent(s) or guardian(s) must review these Terms together. Parents and guardians are responsible for the acts of children under 18 years of age when using our Services.
    7. If we are told by a parent/guardian that their child has misrepresented their age when registering for an Account, we will Stop the Account provided we have information which satisfies us that the reporting person is indeed the parent or guardian of that child.
  3. UPDATES TO THESE TERMS
    1. We may, from time to time, make changes to these Terms to reflect: (a) changes in applicable laws; (b) regulatory or security requirements; (c) relevant guidance or codes of practice; (d) technical alterations our Services; (e) to improve clarity and consistency; or (f) for any other reason within our sole discretion.
    2. Please check the Terms whenever you use one of our Services. We will treat your continued use of the Services as acceptance of any changes made to the Terms from the previous version. If you do not agree with the changes you should cancel your Account and stop using the Services.
  4. ACCESSING OUR SERVICES
    1. Access to our Services is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the Services we provide without notice. To the maximum extent permissible by law, we will not be liable if for any reason our Services are unavailable at any time or for any period.
    2. From time to time, we may restrict access to the Services or parts of the Services. For example users of the Dovetail Live Store will be required to set up an Account and register with our retail service provider to purchase games directly from our Website (see paragraphs 6.7 and 14 below).
    3. When using our Services, you shall ensure that your actions and any content you create or upload to our Services satisfies the requirements in our Acceptable Use Policy (see paragraph 10 below).
    4. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Services. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the Services through your device and/or internet connection are aware of these Terms, and that they comply with them.  We cannot guarantee that any Service will work on or be compatible with or capable of being accessed on any particular devices, platforms, operating systems or equipment, or in conjunction with any particular software or connectivity services. We do not accept responsibility for such equipment, software or services. We also do not guarantee that the Services can be accessed in all geographic locations.  Minimum technical specifications and compatibility information are available on the websites of the relevant Services.
    5. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Services, the servers on which the Services are stored, or any server, computer or database connected to the Services. You must not attack the Services via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. You must not misuse our Services by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act (1990). We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities, and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them in accordance with our Privacy Policy. In the event of such a breach, your right to use and licenses granted in these Terms to the Services will cease immediately without notice from us.
    6. To the maximum extent permissible by law, we will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any form of cyber attack on the Services including a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that in turn may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our Services or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to.
    7. In addition to these Terms, access to any of our Games is governed by our End User Licence Agreement (“EULA”) for that Game. The EULA for each of our Games is available here.
    8. You may link to our Website, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you. Our Website must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our Website other than the home page. We reserve the right to withdraw this linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.  If you wish to make any use of material on our site other than that set out above, please write to RailSimulator.com Limited T/A Dovetail Games, 3rd Floor North, Fitted Rigging House, Anchor Wharf, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TZ, UK.
    9. Where our Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.  Any third-party sites or resources that are linked to, are not endorsed, controlled or verified by us. We do not guarantee that any websites or resources will work on your computer or be virus free. Any suggestions made are not a warranty of any kind and we are not responsible for any disruption, problem, damage, data loss, cost or inconvenience caused by the suggested sites or technologies. We will not provide support for any sites or resources which are not our own. We exercises no control over the copyright, patent or trademark compliance or legality of the suggested sites or resources.
  5. YOUR ACCOUNT
    1. If our Website, or any of our other Services require you to open an account (your "Account"), you must complete the registration process by providing us with current, complete and accurate information as prompted by the applicable registration form. You then will choose a password and a user name. You must not choose a username that infringes the rights of any third party, impersonates a member of Dovetail staff or other users, or which is deliberately confusing, offensive, racist, obscene, hurtful, unlawful or otherwise inappropriate. We reserve the right (at our sole and absolute discretion), to change any username for any reason or take such other action as we believe appropriate.
    2. Keep your password and Account details safe. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and Account (including all password, user names and account details for your Steam and social media accounts) and for any and all activities that occur under your Account(s). You are expressly prohibited from allowing anyone else to use your Account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your Account(s) or any other breach of security. We will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password(s) or Account(s), either with or without your knowledge. However, you could be held liable for losses incurred by us or another party due to someone else using your Account(s) or password(s). You may not use anyone else’s Account(s) at any time without the permission of the Account holder.
    3. Your Account is for personal and non-commercial purposes only and subject at all times to your strict compliance with these Terms. To be clear, we consider the creation of an Account in order to access any Games or other part of our Services in order to understand, decompile, reverse engineer, copy, reproduce, or transmit such Games or Service as being outside the scope of “personal and non-commercial use”.
    4. If you believe that someone has stolen your password or you believe you have lost or had stolen the device upon which any Game or Service is installed or accessible or you believe that someone other than you has gained access to your Account, you should immediately contact us at support.dovetailgames.com or via email at support@dovetailgames.com. You will remain responsible for your Account until you have notified us.
    5. If, acting reasonably, we consider that:
      1. these Terms (including the Acceptable Use Policy) have or may have been breached or will be breached; and/or
      2. there has been fraudulent, unlawful or abusive activity; and/or
      3. it is necessary in order to prevent or stop any harm or damage to us, to any of our Services, to other users of our Services, to the general public, or to you, then,

in our sole discretion, we may at any time: (i) Stop any or all of your Accounts; and/or (ii) restrict access to any content-uploading or other feature of our Services.

    1. We do not guarantee the ongoing supply of any service or that the services and any related services and content will be available at all times, in all locations, or at any given time or that we will continue to offer such services, related services and content for a particular length of time. Upon reasonable notice to you (and without reason), we may stop any account and you acknowledge and agree that you are not entitled to any refund for any amounts paid in connection with the Account.
  2. SAFETY AND ABUSE
    1. You should be aware of the potential risks of using a service which includes User Content. User Content may be inaccurate, out of date or otherwise inappropriate. We cannot guarantee that users will comply with our Terms, rules or otherwise behave appropriately. You should not assume that a person is who he or she claims to be. In your own interests, you should not attempt to contact any user outside one of our Services.
    2. If you are the victim of offensive or inappropriate behaviour or receive any other unwanted communications, you should report such inappropriate behaviour to us via support.dovetailgames.com  as well as seeking appropriate external help, for example from parents or law enforcement authorities. If you continue to suffer problems, or are not satisfied, then you must stop using the relevant Service and contact our support team by email at support@dovetailgames.com.
    3. We are under no obligation to actively monitor and/or moderate User Content. Our community team, however, does undertake manual moderation of our forums.  We also have systems that monitor the forums and Games for certain keywords and will either automatically block or provide us with a selection of high-risk User Content to review.
  3. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, OWNERSHIP AND RESTRICTIONS
    1. We are the owner or the authorised licensee of all Intellectual Property Rights appearing in our Services, and in the assets, content and material published on it (“Dovetail Content’). This Dovetail Content is protected by the laws of copyright and other intellectual property laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are expressly reserved by Dovetail.
    2. Except where permitted by way of the functionality in the Games, you may not edit reproduce, duplicate, copy, re-sell or modify any aspect of the Dovetail Content including, without limitation, any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics contained within the Services.
    3. You must not use any part of the Dovetail Content for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors, as applicable.
    4. If you print off, copy or download any part of our Service or Dovetail Content this will constitute a material breach of these Terms. In such event, your right to use our Service will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of Dovetail Content made.

The Services contain a number of registered and unregistered trade marks which are owned or licensed by Dovetail. These Terms confer no rights to you to use these trade marks or brands and any goodwill conferred on you in respect of such trade marks and brands are automatically assigned to us.

  1. USER CONTENT AND ACCEPTABLE USE
    1. You shall ensure that all User Content created or posted by you satisfies our Acceptable Use Policy, a copy of which is available here.
    2. If you create any User Content or make User Content available to other users (even if the User Content you make available was not created by you) then you agree (and shall be responsible in ensuring that any other creator or owner of that User Content agrees) that, to the extent that any part of the User Content which comprises or incorporates any Intellectual Property Rights owned by or licensed to us (such as our routes, locomotives, rolling-stock, aircraft or other assets) remains our property;
    3. When you submit content to our Services you agree that such content will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and that we have the right to:
      1. use, host, store, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose;
      2. modify, edit or creative derivative works of your content so that it works better with our Services;
      3. distribute your content in any way and for as long as we choose in any media throughout the world even if you stop using our Services;
      4. moderate any content you submit, including a right to review, edit or remove it and if necessary refer any of your content to the police or other relevant authorities.
    4. Any User Content created for one of our Games must not imply implicitly or explicitly that it is approved by us without our express permission. All User Content must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy.  The EULA and these Terms set out in detail how user generated content may be used.  In particular, the User Content may include work which remains the intellectual property of Dovetail and which may only be used for entertainment purposes and may not be used commercially, rented, leased, sub-licensed, modified, adapted, copied, reproduced or redistributed without our permission.
    5. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their Intellectual Property Rights, or of their right to privacy. We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of our Services.
  2. RELIANCE ON CONTENT
    1. You should not rely upon the accuracy or completeness of any commentary, information and other materials posted on our Services. Such information is provided for reference only and does not amount to advice. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our Services. No warranties are provided in respect of such information. To the maximum extent permissible by law, we disclaim all liability and responsibility in respect of such commentary, information and other materials. arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any user of our Services, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
  3. THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
    1. Our Site may provide a platform for third party applications, websites and services to make available products and services to you (“Third Party Applications”), Your use of these Third Party Applications is subject to the terms of use and privacy policies of the third party owners or rights holders of such Third Party Applications and We have no responsibility for such terms and conditions. You understand and agree that we do not in any way moderate or publish and are not responsible or liable in any way for the behaviour, features, or content of any Third Party Application.
  4. PERSONAL DATA
    1. We process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Policy, a copy of which is available here. By using our Services, you consent to such processing, and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.
  5. TRANSACTIONS CONCLUDED VIA OUR WEBSITE
    1. If you wish to purchase any Games or any other products of services made available via our Website (including any expansions, add-ons or other downloadable content) ("Website Products"), then any purchase function shall direct you to a third party provider through which any such Website Products can be purchased. The terms and conditions governing the purchase, supply and delivery of any such Website Products shall be those provided by such third party provider. (the “Third Party Terms”). Please read the Third Party Terms thoroughly before purchasing any Website Products. These Third Party Terms will set out your consumer rights and the Third Party’s obligations to you as a consumer, including your right to cancel, obtain a refund and the information required to be provided to you in respect of such Website Products.
  6. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
    1. Our Services are provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to their accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, we, other members of our group of companies and third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:
      1. All conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.
      2. Any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user in connection with our Services or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our Services, their content, any websites linked to the Services and any materials posted on them, including, without limitation, any liability for:
        1. loss of income or revenue;
        2. loss of business;
        3. loss of direct profits or indirect profits or contracts;
        4. loss of anticipated savings;
        5. loss of data; or
        6. loss of goodwill.
      3. Wasted management or office time; and for any other loss or damage of any kind, however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable, provided that this condition shall not prevent claims for loss of or damage to your tangible property or any other claims for direct financial loss that are not excluded by any of the categories set out above.
    2. This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, nor our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. It’s unlikely to happen, but if any of our Services damage your device or any other content on your device, Consumer Protection Law gives you the right to ask for compensation.
    3. In addition to the above, we are not liable for anything that happens to you if:
      1. you rely on any advice, data, commentary, opinions or other materials included in any Service or links we provide;
      2. there are errors, omissions, interruptions, delays, bugs or viruses in any Service;
      3. your child or another person who has access to the Dovetail Live Store account or payment method makes unauthorised purchases using your Dovetail Live Store account and/or payment method.
      4. we turn off or remove any parts of the Services or external links;
      5. we remove content from your Account or update software as permitted by these Terms;
      6. we close any Service.
  7. JURISDICTION AND APPLICABLE LAW
    1. These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
    2. The English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, the Services or your use of the Services, although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these Terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country.
  8. ENTIRE AGREEMENT
    1. These Terms and any document incorporated by reference constitute the entire agreement between us with respect to its subject matter and supersede any previous terms between us in relation to such matters.
  9. THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
    1. The Terms do not give any enforceable rights to any person who is not a party to them.
  10. FORCE MAJEURE
    1. Force majeure means any cause or event beyond the reasonable control of the affected party including without limitation war, civil war, armed conflict or terrorist attack, nuclear, chemical or biological contamination, pandemic, strikes, civil action, unavailability of the internet, unscheduled hosting and maintenance to systems, power and data losses and acts of God. We shall not be obliged to perform our obligations under these Terms to the extent that we are prevented from doing so by reason of an event of force majeure. Performance of these Terms may cease during the continuation of the force majeure event and for such time after that event ceases as is necessary for us to start satisfying our obligations again. For so long as such force majeure event is continuing, our corresponding obligations under these Terms shall be suspended to the same extent. If such force majeure continues for a continuous period in excess of four months, we may terminate access to the Services immediately on service of notice to you.
  11. COMPLAINTS
    1. If you are dissatisfied with one of our Services or any aspect of them, please contact us via the customer support section of the Website here. If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, please contact us at support@dovetailgames.com with the following information: your name, username, email address, the full details of your complaint, details of Dovetail's previous response to your complaint, and why you disagree with the outcome.